The eyes of the Brazilian children show despair. A smiling mother with a child on her lap depicts love and hope. The dancing women in colorful dresses during Carnival show joy. The landscapes put the viewer right there. Holy Cross Brother Robert Weinmann’s paintings celebrate and bring to life the people of Brazil who he has spent his vocation helping. Today, despite his declining health — his kidneys are failing and he needs around-the-clock oxygen support — the 77 year old still sells his paintings to help fund a community center he founded in Brazil. The St. Brother Andre Community Center near Campinas provides social services for poor street children ages 6 to 17. The proceeds of his oil on canvas and wood paintings go directly back to the community center where children go to be fed and are provided hygiene and some medical services. The children — some of them homeless — wander the streets where drugs and prostitutes prevail. “I easily fell in love with the people and the culture,” said Brother Weinmann, sitting at his work station in his residence at a retirement facility on the campus of St. Edward’s University in Austin. On the easel is an older child embracing a younger brother. His paintings come from photos he has taken. Brother Weinmann’s journey to Brazil began after graduating from St. Edward’s in 1966. After spending time in California, he accepted a missionary assignment in Brazil to serve the ministries of the Congregation in Santarem. The only way to get there was by boat on the Amazon River. He earned a fine arts degree there in 1974 from the Catholic University of Campinas. He taught English, but it didn’t take long to recognize what the people needed. “It was to help the street kids and give them the basic skills to survive like reading and writing,” he said. With a trusty, small Kodak film camera in hand, he snapped photos that would eventually be turned into amazing and beautiful depictions of his missionary life. And it was always about the people and their eyes and faces that showed the despair of an unimaginably difficult life. “The children immediately became a part of my life. They had nothing; they were begging for food. The gangs took them in to sell drugs, and the kids themselves took drugs. So the gangs took in and created customers. Mothers lived in falvelas (slums), which had no running water or electricity. They lived in shacks with several children. Thus, they sold their bodies for dollars,” Brother Weinmann said. With the help from parents of Colegio Notre Dame in Campinas, he founded the community center in 1985, using a donated furniture factory. While the sale of his paintings now plays a key role in helping fund the center, it did not begin that way. “I gave many of my paintings away at first to help get my name out,” he said. Eventually, his work sold in exhibits in Europe and South America. Painting started as a hobby when he was child. In classes at St. Edward’s, a Holy Cross brother urged him to paint. “I got praise and kept painting,” he said. He took private lessons, and his passion for art exploded in Brazil. “I developed a high degree of sensibility for what surrounded me. I would never feel that my works have truth if I had not portrayed the reality which was part of my everyday life,” he said. The street children captured his heart. “I was a teacher, so I was always drawn to children. It wasn’t hard to look at these hungry kids and be concerned; they literally had nothing,” he said. While the streets kids were his focus, there were many joyous moments, too, especially on the streets during Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. “It was mind blowing,” he said. His work continues to help the community center, despite thrice weekly kidney dialysis treatments. “It’s a drop in the bucket, but I pray and think about those kids every day and that motivates me to get better,” he said. Today, he gets huge satisfaction when the children he helped send e-mails. “They are adults now with their own children, and they say thank you,” he said. “I was a father figure to them, a man who didn’t take advantage of them. I respected them.” Many pieces of Brother Weinmann’s work are on display in the current Religious Art Collection at the Pastoral Center in Austin. For information on how to purchase his paintings or make a contribution to the community center, contact Holy Cross Father Charles Van Winkle at (512) 382-7324.